My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a property in Gravesend and have instructed a Gravesend conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Halifax have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Gravesend lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Gravesend solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My Gravesend lawyer has identified a discrepancy when comparing the surveyor’s assumptions in the valuation report and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My lawyer has advised that he is obliged to check that the lender is happy with this discrepancy and is content to go ahead. Is my lawyer’s stance legitimate?
Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Please help - my lawyer says that missing deeds insurance is required on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Gravesend?
The right level of missing deeds indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Accord Mortgages Ltd and Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Gravesend. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Gravesend. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My wife and I have a terraced Victorian property in Gravesend. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Gravesend and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.
I am buying my first flat in Gravesend benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about this side-deal as it would adversely affect my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I am downsizing from my house. My former conveyancers have shut. I am in need of a recommendation of a conveyancing firm. Im based in Gravesend if that makes things easier.
Do use our search tool to help you find a solicitor for your conveyancing in Gravesend. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with regulated solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move runs with a minimum of fuss.